1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an improved data processing system, and in particular, to a computer implemented method, data processing system, and computer program product for coordinating delivery of components to manage solution delivery and installation to customers.
2. Description of the Related Art
A supply chain is a network created among different companies for producing, handling, and/or distributing specific products. A product in a supply chain may be moved in a physical or virtual manner from a supplier to a customer. A solution fulfillment team within a company may manage the supply chain and control the flow of resources, including distribution capacity, inventory, and labor. The objective of the solution fulfillment team is to fulfill customer orders and provide solutions through the most efficient use of the resources.
The solution fulfillment team is responsible for managing the supply chain to deliver a seamless transaction with the customer when an order is processed. However, in large installations, a customer may end up purchasing a solution that contains hundreds of product components shipped from several different distribution sites. In addition, to ensure a smooth transition to the customer, the solution fulfillment team may send a deployment team to the customer site to unpack, setup, install, configure, and test the solution. Although the deployment team may be in place to install the solution, current problems that may occur using existing supply chain delivery and installation techniques include the components being lost during shipment, wrong components being delivered to the customer, components being misplaced at the customer site, and components in the wrong installation location at the customer site. These problems can result in delays and additional costs for multiple trips of the deployment teams to customer sites, as well as poor customer satisfaction.
Several methods in the current art are used to determine the inventory of solution components at a customer site for delivery and installation. One method comprises having the customer perform a manual inventory of components at the customer site. As this method causes more work for customers, it can result in poor customer satisfaction, as well as cause problems due to the potential for human error. Another method comprises tracking the delivery of components to the customer site via delivery carrier. However, a disadvantage to this method is that although the solution fulfillment team may know that the components have been, at some point in time, delivered to the company, there is no guarantee that the delivered components are currently at the correct location within the customer site when the deployment team arrives. The components may be misplaced within the customer site, or the components may be at an incorrect installation location at the site.